Joel Potrykus is a two-time AFI FEST alumnus with his previous films BUZZARD (AFI FEST 2014) and APE (AFI FEST 2012). We caught up with him in anticipation of his SXSW premiere next month, THE ALCHEMIST COOKBOOK. In the film, Ty Hickson plays Sean, an isolated drifter who, having fled society, lives with his cat Kaspar in a trailer in the wilderness. When his experiments in alchemy evolve into black magic, his life on the outskirts of authority begins to go awry. READ MORE: AFI FEST Director Joel Potrykus Talks American Indie BUZZARD This is an even more intense character study…

AFI is proud to highlight the AFI Conservatory alumni featured in the 88th Academy Awards®, which followed an unprecedented awards season run for AFI graduates. Producer Steve Golin (AFI Class of 1981) received the Best Picture Oscar® for SPOTLIGHT. The film’s credits also include cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi (AFI Class of 2002) with a special thanks to Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe journalist Michael Rezendes (AFI Class of 1999), played by Mark Ruffalo in the film. Read our interview with Rezendes here. Altogether, four AFI Conservatory alumni received a total of five Oscar® nominations. Below is the full list of AFI alumni who worked…

Before Michael Rezendes won a Pulitzer Prize for journalism, he was a Screenwriting alumnus of the AFI Conservatory (Class of 1999). Played by Mark Ruffalo in the Oscar®-nominated SPOTLIGHT, he’s one of a group of Boston Globe reporters who, in 2002, exposed a shattering clergy sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Known collectively as the Spotlight team, they won a Pulitzer Prize for their work. Now, nearly 15 years later, the story has gained international attention once again with the film directed by Tom McCarthy and written by Josh Singer. AFI spoke with Rezendes about his AFI Conservatory experience,…

Have a favorite vintage movie poster? Chances are, it was probably designed by Bill Gold, one of the most prolific designers ever to work in movies. Gaining early prestige working on CASABLANCA for Warner Bros., his legacy of posters spans from Hollywood’s Golden Age through New Hollywood, including a close and enduring collaboration with director Clint Eastwood. AFI spoke with Gold, now retired, about an illustrious career that has proven as influential as the films for which he’s designed posters. AFI: Tell us how you got started in the business, and where you are today now that you’ve retired. Bill Gold: In my wildest dreams,…

At a recent Harold Lloyd Master Seminar on the AFI campus, director George Miller discussed the making of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD with Fellows of the AFI Conservatory. Now up for 10 Academy Awards® including Best Picture — and an AFI AWARDS 2015 official selection — this exhilarating fourth installment in the MAD MAX series came to the Australian director as a dream while on an airplane. “I never wanted to make another MAD MAX movie … but if the material’s strong there’s a kind of gravitational pull to it,” Miller said. “We couldn’t kill it with a stick.” SEE MORE: Watch the…